Epinephrine potentiation of in vivo stimuli reverses aspirin inhibition of platelet thrombus formation in stenosed canine coronary arteries.

In 18 anesthetized dogs with a 70% mechanically produced coronary artery stenosis, blood flow measured with an electromagnetic flowmeter showed cyclical reductions in flow due to periodic acute platelet thrombus formation. These were abolished in eight of nine dogs with 2.5 mg/kg of aspirin given intravenously and in nine of nine dogs with 5 mg/kg of aspirin. However in 14 of 18 dogs the cyclical flow reductions were temporarily renewed with the infusion of epinephrine 0.4 microgram/kg/min. Human platelets inhibited with aspirin can be reactivated with physiologic amounts of epinephrine. We postulate that in patients with atherosclerotic stenotic lesions the use of aspirin to inhibit arterial thrombus formation may be less effective when they have elevated catecholamines.